The Producers | film by Brooks [1968] | Britannica.com film by Brooks [1968] The Producers, American screwball comedy–musical film , released in 1968, that is Mel Brooks ’s first feature and his most acclaimed work. Zero Mostel (left) with Lee Meredith and Gene Wilder in The Producers … © 1968 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.; photograph from a private collection Zero Mostel played a failed theatrical producer, and Gene Wilder was cast as his timid accountant. Together they hatch a bizarre plot to make a fortune from investors by opening a Broadway play “guaranteed” to flop—a shockingly upbeat production about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun titled Springtime for Hitler. The play, however, fails to fail, which leads to a slew of unpredictable consequences. Along the way, Brooks skewers and satirizes various social, religious, and ethnic groups. Mostel’s intentionally hammy performance won critical raves, and Wilder received an Academy Award nomination for his role.

John Morris’s score became a classic and helped inspire the hit Broadway musical version of the movie, which debuted in 2001 starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, both of whom starred in the film version of the stage musical in 2005. Production notes and credits Estelle Winwood (Hold Me–Touch Me Old Lady) Renée Taylor (Eva Braun) Christopher Hewett (Roger De Bris) Lee Meredith (Ulla) Dick Shawn (Lorenzo St. DuBois) Academy Award nominations (* denotes win) Screenplay* in Mel Brooks: First films All this was but a prelude to his auspicious feature-film directorial debut, The Producers (1968), which was not a major success at the box office, even though Brooks’s screenplay won an Academy Award. In The Producers, Zero Mostel starred as a financially troubled stage producer who teams with his accountant (played by Gene Wilder) to... in Gene Wilder ...Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

A turning point in his career came when actor-director-writer Mel Brooks, whom Wilder had met during his Broadway days, cast Wilder in The Producers (1968) opposite the explosive Zero Mostel. Though the film did middling business at the time, it earned for Wilder an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, and it has since... 3 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References role of Wilder (in Gene Wilder ) External Links The American screwball comedy-musical The Producers (1968) was Mel Brooks’s first feature film. Brooks won an Academy Award for best screenplay for the movie, and Gene Wilder was nominated for best supporting actor. Article Contributors Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.

You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: November 15, 2013 URL: Access Date: January 19, 2017 Share Mel Brooks talks about the making of The Producers | Film | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close Mel Brooks is 82 now.

In the 40s he fought in the second world war, in the 1950s he pioneered TV sketch writing with The Sid Caesar Show, and in the 1970s he single-handed invented the movie spoof with Blazing Saddles (1974), a pastiche of western gags that paved the way for the Airplane! film, the Scary Movie franchise and recent run of parodies that continues with next month's Disaster Movie. Nothing this groundbreaking Jewish comedian ever did, however, has lasted like The Producers, the film he directed in 1968 from a script he wrote himself and finished on a budget of just $941,000. There has never been a movie quite like it, in which two theatre producers - one (Zero Mostel) a sleazy opportunist, the other (Gene Wilder) a wide-eyed dreamer - raise more money than they need to fund a bad-taste musical about Hitler that (they think) will be a dead-cert flop, only to find that their plan backfires and their tax-loss disaster becomes a Broadway hit.

After 23 years of cult success, The Producers made news again by becoming a New York stage production in 2001, taking 12 awards at that year's Tonys, before being turned back into a movie again in 2005. This month it turns 40, in a special-edition DVD that refuses to show its age, still fresh, still funny and still breathtakingly outrageous. Here, Brooks explains the film's remarkable journey. 1. Broadway 'I don't know what kept that movie alive' ... Mel Brooks. Photo: Eamonn McCabe "I worked for a producer who wore a chicken fat-stained homburg and a black alpaca coat. He pounced on little old ladies and would make love to them. They gave him money for his plays, and they were so grateful for his attention. Later on there were a couple of guys who were doing flop after flop and living like kings. A press agent told me, 'God forbid they should ever get a hit, because they'd never be able to pay off the backers!' I coupled the producer with these two crooks and - BANG! - there was my story." 2.

Adolf Hitler "It was such a delicious scheme, and I said to myself: so what is the flop? They've got to make a surefire flop, one that simply can't run! But what would have people packing up and leaving the theatre even before the first act is over? Well, how about something about Hitler! How about a musical! A gay romp with Adolf and Eva in the Berchtesgaden! Well, that would certainly send the Jews flying out of the theatre! So that's what I called my script: Springtime For Hitler." 3. The orchestra "I only had eight weeks to get it all in the can, including a big production number, Springtime For Hitler. I was lucky to have John Morris as my composer. He'd never done a score before. I said, 'Look, I've written a beautiful song called Springtime For Hitler. Forget the lyrics. If you sing the lyrics, it's crazy, but if you just stay with the tune, it's a very beautiful song, all you've got to do is play variations on that. When we have a sad scene, play it sad.

When we have a happy scene, play it happy.' He said, 'Well, that's a good start!'" 4. A tuna sandwich "Sidney Glazier was the only producer who would do this. He'd won an Academy award for The Eleanor Roosevelt Story, so I knew the guy had good taste, but I didn't know why he'd want to do this crazy comedy. I went to see him, and he was eating a tuna fish sandwich, and he said, 'Read it to me.' So I began to read it to him ... When I got to the part about Springtime For Hitler he exploded. He was choking with laughter; he came sputtering up from behind his desk and he said, 'BY GOD, WE'LL MAKE THIS MOVIE!'" 5. Horse racing "Sidney went to a guy called Louis Wolfson, a rich philanthropist. He also was a great racetrack enthusiast, so he was a gambler. And when he heard my idea, he said, 'Oh good, this is getting back at Hitler. You can't bring dictators down on a soapbox with rhetoric.

But if you can make people LAUGH at them, you've won.' He put up half the money. It cost $941,000 to make. The other half was put up by a producer called Joseph E Levine, who said, 'I'll do it if you change the title.' That's when we decided to call it The Producers." 6. Gene Wilder's eyes "I found Gene in a Bertolt Brecht play called Mother Courage. My wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring in it, and Gene and I got to be friends. He'd say, 'Why do people laugh at me?' I said, 'Because you're a funny guy.' He said, 'But I don't intend to be funny.' I said, 'That's what comedy is all about: having the audience discover it.' So I said, 'I'm writing this script, and you're going to be Leo Bloom.' He said, 'Ha ha, that'll be the day!' Then, two years later, I went back to him. By that time he had become a star, but he read the script and cried. Gene was nuts. Crazy.

I loved Gene, because he was always an inch and a half away from hysteria. It was right there in his eyes. He was like a trapped animal and, in The Producers, Max Bialystock is the thing that's trapping him." 7. The Tuesday Night Gourmet Club "I knew it was always Zero Mostel that had to play Max Bialystock. Who else would pounce on old ladies to get the last dollar out of them? But Zero wouldn't do it. Now, in those days I was part of a club called The Tuesday Night Gourmet Club, and we would meet at Chinese restaurants. It consisted of Speed Vogel, a clothing merchant and sculptor, and George Mandel, a novelist, who was best friends with Joseph Heller, and Joseph Heller was very good friends with Mario Puzo. Speed knew Zero's wife, because they had a loft together where Speed sculpted and Zero painted, and Speed knew Kate, Zero's Irish wife. He said, 'Kate would love this, we gotta get it to Kate.' So he gave her the script, she loved it, and she made Zero do it. She said, 'No more sex,' or something." 8.

Peter Sellers "Peter Sellers was a champion of The Producers and he nearly ruined it. It was about to open in England, and he took out a double-page ad in the Sunday Times that said, 'This is the funniest and the best picture ever made.' The critics said, 'Hmm, we'll be the judges of that, thank you.' So I got good and bad reviews because they decided that they would judge it for themselves and not just take Peter Sellers' word for it." 9. Frank Sinatra "I only got one really great review at the time, and that was, 'No one will be seated during the last 88 minutes - they'll all be on the floor laughing.' Oh, and someone at Newsweek said it was best lunatic humour since the Marx brothers invaded the opera. But word of mouth floated it, and the next year I found myself at the Oscars. Why? I don't know! I was just lucky. I was up against Stanley Kubrick's 2001! I was up against The Battle Of Algiers! I said, 'Forget it.' But sure enough, when Frank Sinatra was giving out the award, he said, 'Best Original Screenplay...

Mel Brooks!' I got up and I took the award and I said, 'I must tell you all what's deep in my heart, what's really in my heart.' They waited, and I said, 'Ba-DUM ... Ba-DUM ... Ba-DUM ...' And then I left!" 10. The New York Times "The first review, God bless the critics, was by Renata Adler in the New York Times. She crucified it. She said it was a lousy picture - not worth seeing. And when you do a little arts picture like that, you need the Times. You can't survive without it. I don't know what kept that movie alive! I mean, it wasn't a Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie! It was definitely bizarre. Who would go see a film about Hitler and two Jews trying to outsmart their investors?

Who cares about that?" · The Producers is re-released on DVD on August 25 Gene Wilder | American actor | Britannica.com American actor Jackie Gleason Gene Wilder, original name Jerome Silberman (born June 11, 1933, Milwaukee , Wisconsin , U.S.—died August 29, 2016, Stamford , Connecticut ), American comic actor best known for his portrayals of high-strung neurotic characters who generally seemed to be striving unsuccessfully to appear more balanced than they were. In addition, his characters often shared a sort of tender vulnerability. Gene Wilder (right) with Lee Meredith and Zero Mostel in The Producers … © 1968 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.; photograph from a private collection As a youth in Milwaukee, Wilder was a student of the renowned acting instructor Herman Gottlieb, and in 1955 he graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in theatre . He later studied at the Bristol (England) Old Vic Theatre School, and in 1961 he joined the Actors Studio in New York City , where he studied under Lee Strasberg . That year Wilder made his Broadway debut in the play Roots.

During the next few years he acted in several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, garnering good reviews for his performances in The Complaisant Lover (1961), Mother Courage and Her Children (1963), and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1963). Wilder made his film debut with a small part in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). A turning point in his career came when actor-director-writer Mel Brooks , whom Wilder had met during his Broadway days, cast Wilder as the neurotic accountant Leo Bloom in The Producers (1968) opposite the explosive Zero Mostel . Though it did middling business at the time, Wilder earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, and the film came to be regarded as a classic comedy . In 1970 he starred in two movies that developed a cult following: Start the Revolution Without Me, in which Wilder demonstrated his considerable skill at fencing , and Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx, in which he delivered a sensitive performance as a Dublin dung salesman.

Wilder was also memorable as the distrustful and slightly unsettling title character in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and as a respected doctor whose career is destroyed when he falls in love with a sheep in one segment of Woody Allen ’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (1972). Wilder became a major star in 1974 with his performances in two hilariously scatological Brooks films, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein . The first film, a ribald spoof of westerns , featured Wilder as the laconic “Waco Kid,” a drunken ex-gunslinger. Young Frankenstein, hailed by many critics as one of the greatest comedies ever made, provided Wilder with his best screen role, that of a third-generation member of the Frankenstein family who tries to deny his heritage and demands that his name be pronounced “Fronk-en-shteen.” Also for this film, Brooks and Wilder collaborated on the Oscar-nominated screenplay.

Wilder’s success in the Brooks films inspired him to write and direct his own comedies, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (1975) and The World’s Greatest Lover (1977). Most critics, however, found them to be pale imitations of the Brooks style. (Left to right) Mel Brooks, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Gene Wilder, and Teri Garr in a promotional … © 1974 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Wilder teamed with comic Richard Pryor for two popular comedies, Silver Streak (1976) and Stir Crazy (1980), and for two flops, See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991). He appeared with his wife, comedian Gilda Radner , in such films as Hanky Panky (1982), The Woman in Red (1984), and Haunted Honeymoon (1986). Many of Wilder’s subsequent credits were for television. He notably won an Emmy Award (2003) for a guest appearance on the sitcom Will & Grace.

Richard Pryor (left), Georg Stanford Brown (centre right), and Gene Wilder (right) in … KPA/Heritage-Images/Imagestate The Producers MovieOnly Edition DVD with Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel, Kenneth Mars (PG) +Movie Reviews You Can't Keep A Good Movie Down! Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 01/18/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) ""The Producers" was a very bold movie for first time director Mel Brooks to tackle. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder were not nationally known movie stars, and the subject matter was very controversial. To his credit, Mel stuck to his guns and made the movie exactly the way he envisioned it. The only concession he made was changing the original title "Springtime For Hitler," because no movie studio would promote a film and theater owners wouldn't show a movie with Hitler in the title. The first part of the movie is hysterical, especially watching Gene Wilder getting so agitated that he appears to actually be having a nervous breakdown! The scene at Lincoln Center is one of the most effective scenes ever filmed.

Zero finally persuades Gene to go along with his crazy scheme, and Gene yells "I'll do it!" Just then, the water in the fountain majestically rises up. Gene giddily dances around the fountain as Zero smiles approvingly.The opening dance number of the play "Springtime For Hitler" is outrageously over the top, with the dancers wearing Nazi uniforms and goose-stepping across the stage. Especially offensive to some is when the overhead view shows the dancers below in the form of a swastika. As Mel said in his interview, if you've gone that far out, you might as well go all the way. The cult status of the film has grown over the years. Life imitated art when "The Producers" was turned into a real Broadway musical. The staggering success of the play led to the film finally being released on DVD. As a great man once wrote, you can't keep a good movie down!" Mel Brooks' First-And Best Patrick A.

Hayden | Arlington, VA United States | 12/30/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) ""The Producers", which has gained newfound fame due to the Musical Comedy that Mel Brooks created based on this, his first movie, is also the best thing Brooks has ever done. "Blazing Saddles" was a gag-a-minute take on the Western, and "Young Frankenstein" was Brooks' spoof on horror, but in "The Producers", Brooks' made something that was entirely his own: a madcap, hilarious, perfectly cast satire of life on the seedier side of Broadway.The late, great Zero Mostel stars as Max Bilalystock, a former big-time Broadway producer who has been reduced to seducing old ladies for checks to fund flops. Into his sad life comes accountant Leo Bloom(Gene Wilder in the first of several Brooks' collaborations). Bloom is a nebbishly high-strung auditor who offhandedly mentions to Max that a producer could make more money from a flop than a hit.

This launches one of the most hilarious movies ever made, as Bloom and Bialystock scheme to find the worst sript, worst director, and worst actors to make the most tasteless and awful play ever.The humor here is some of Brooks' finest. He expertley skewers Broadway egos, Nazis's, and greed as he tells the tale of the production of "Springtime for Hitler", written by an ex-Nazi who still holds onto the idea that Hitler was a great man. What keeps it from becoming an offensive movie is that the play is so hopelessly miscast and directed that it is just a big joke, and the fact that the audience knows that the Nazi is being taken advantage of steers the film away from the dark aspects of that ideology and makes fun of everything Hitler was trying to create. Wilder shines as Bloom, in his first major role, as he moves from loser to producer to desperate criminal, and Mostel shows his fine gift for broad comedy in his portrayal of the morally bankrupt producer who prizes money above all else.

The film's funniest scenes involve bizzare breakdowns from Wilder, the hilarious alegiance to the defunct Third Reich by the playright, played with utter conviction by Kenneth Mars, and of course the play itself. The opening musical number is a sight to behold, and manages to spoof every over the top broadway production ever in the sense that everyone involved in the production, save Wilder and Mostel, take it so damn seriously.The Producers has finally gotten the DVD release it deserves, and should delight anyone who loves Mel Brooks, and perhaps win a few converts who only know him from his latter day flops(Men in Tights, I'm looking at you). Brooks had 10 great years of moviemaking in him, and he starts it out with a bang in this film." "Where did I go right?" Allen Smalling | Chicago, IL United States | 01/09/2006 (5 out of 5 stars) " This is it!

The source, THE PRODUCERS, the 1968 release with screenplay and direction by Mel Brooks, juicy parts by Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars and others, and a well-deserved reputation as one of the funniest movie comedies ever. Filmed on a pittance (less than $1 million, cheap even by Sixties standards), THE PRODUCERS almost died unrecognized until it became a cult hit in New York, L.A., Chicago and then, everywhere. SPOILER GRAF: The plot is brilliantly diabolical: a corrupt Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and his nebbishy accountant assistant (Gene Wilder) deliberately oversell a play with the design to create a flop and keep the proceeds. They hire the worst possible playwright, director, and choreographer and deliberately insult the drama critics. But the play is so hilariously awful it becomes awfully hilarious. The essence of 1960s camp: It's good because it's so bad. It's hard to overstate just how good Mel Brooks' first movie is. The low budget forced a lot of outside shooting in New York City, and as a result the movie looks fresh, not cosmetized.

The premise of a play about "Adolf and Eva in a gay romp at Berchtesgaden" was, if anything, more offensive just 23 years after the end of the Second World War than it is today. A big gamble on Brooks' part, but it played. This edition is well worth the extra couple of dollars over the "movie only" version. It includes a second CD, apparently put together about the time of the 2001 Broadway musical, and contains stills, bios, and an engaging documentary about the film's making and reception. The last is especially fun since all the principals involved (except the late Zero Mostel) are alive and active and possessed of strong memories of that "kooky" classic-in-the-making. The 2005 movie with Broadway vets Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick is proving a disappointment to those who remember the original movie or the 2001 Broadway smash. The new movie took the Broadway book and set it in an imagined-and expensive--"indeterminate past" full of late 1950s cars and fashions.

Unfortunately, what works on the stage doesn't always translate on film, and despite all the talent and money involved, the new movie comes across as stagey, self-absorbed and at times a bit labored. And LONG: half again as long as this original, which clocks in right at an hour and a half. The verdict: All versions of THE PRODUCERS are funny, but the 1968 movie is the one to start with. Enjoy it now at a great price. " WHERE IS THE UNEDITED VERSION OF "THE PRODUCERS" ? RELENTLESS | JUST SOUTH OF OZ | 09/06/2006 (3 out of 5 stars) "CAUTION: MAJOR SPOILERS CONTAINED HEREIN...I have been a big fan of the original theatrical cut (circa 1968) for nearly 40 years. My biggest disappointment is that there is no video format that has ever kept that original vision intact. This classic comedy had been hacked up on network TV long before commercial video formats ever existed.

By the time it was released to laserdisc, two terrific scenes were editied down or out (probably for reasons of pacing and flow). My personal feeling is THOSE SCENES WORKED BETTER left as originally conceived. The "INTERMISSION" sequence actually sets up the original ending for the film. Max buys the drunk at the bar his drink, makes a toast "TO TOAST", then ambles over to the juke-box. Max then invites Leo and the Drunk to sing-along to "By The Light of the Silvery Moon". The truncated (video) version shows them already in the middle of the tune when the "Springtime" theater patrons rush in. Secondly, in the original version Franz stomps out "THE QUICK FUSE!" before the theater blows up. Perhaps Mel thought the scene played out funnier having the playhouse blow-up after their terrified screams. To me it doesn't. It is way too obvious and cliche. The original vision has Franz wiring the dynamite to the plunger box whereon the drunk from the bar completes the circuit, mistaking it for a shoe shine box. "OKAY BOYS", he declares. "SHINE 'EM UP"...KABOOM!!!

This was unexpected and very very funny. I was hoping this new two disc release would restore the original vision of the film. Sadly it does not. I understand there is a deleted scene in this package. But the deleted scene was not deleted from the movie...it has been deleted from the video presentation. I agree with those individuals who balk at FORCED commercials, products or trailers on DVD. This is reprehensible. It ranks right up there with FORCED commercials in multiplex theaters. Last note: "THE PRODUCERS" is truly one of the funniest comedies ever made. If you have not seen it, rent or buy whichever release you can get. I hope the original theatrical presentation will be made available at some point in time for purists who hysterically (and quite literally) fell out of their chairs back in 1968." One of my FAVORITE movies ever!!! :) Robert J. Schneider | Tacoma, WA USA | 04/30/2001 (5 out of 5 stars) ""The Producers" and "The Wizard of Oz" are the two films that I have seen the most amount of times in my life---> 15 times each!!

:) I totally agree with Leonard Maltin that it is "one of those rare films that gets funnier with each viewing." It really does, and I always find something new in it that makes me laugh. Not only is "The Producers" Mel Brooks's first film, and one of his best, but it is quite simply STILL one of the greatest comedies ever made. Why? It's not just the plot, which itself is funny-- no, it is the performances of the late great Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock (what a name!), Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom (whose name was derived from James Joyce's "Ulysses" whose stage version starred Zero Mostel), Kenneth Mars as "Springtime For Hitler" author Franz Liebkin, Christopher Hewitt (Mr. Belvedere himself!) as flamboyantly gay, and cross-dressing, Roger DeBris (another great name!), the late great Dick Shawn as "L.S.D.", and so on...and the interaction between all of them is just hilarious! Even all of the smaller roles get filled with with memorable characters.

(Like the "CONCI-OIGE!") For the most part, they just don't make comedies like this anymore.Now, they've just re-made "The Producers" for Broadway (as Franz Liebkin would say, "Broadvay...oh, joy of joys! Oh, dream of dreams!! I MUST TELL THE BIRDS!!!") I sure can't wait to see this version, even if it takes me a couple of years to do it. I've heard that it's been sold out for the next 2 years. It's just a testament to this film's timelessness...and the fact that it's REALLY funny!! If anyone reading this STILL hasn't seen it, well then what are you waiting for? Buy it, see it with your friends or family, and have a good time laughing. :)" The Producers Deluxe Edition DVD with Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Christopher Hewett (PG) +Movie Reviews You Can't Keep A Good Movie Down! Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 01/18/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) ""The Producers" was a very bold movie for first time director Mel Brooks to tackle.

Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder were not nationally known movie stars, and the subject matter was very controversial. To his credit, Mel stuck to his guns and made the movie exactly the way he envisioned it. The only concession he made was changing the original title "Springtime For Hitler," because no movie studio would promote a film and theater owners wouldn't show a movie with Hitler in the title. The first part of the movie is hysterical, especially watching Gene Wilder getting so agitated that he appears to actually be having a nervous breakdown! The scene at Lincoln Center is one of the most effective scenes ever filmed. Zero finally persuades Gene to go along with his crazy scheme, and Gene yells "I'll do it!" Just then, the water in the fountain majestically rises up. Gene giddily dances around the fountain as Zero smiles approvingly.The opening dance number of the play "Springtime For Hitler" is outrageously over the top, with the dancers wearing Nazi uniforms and goose-stepping across the stage. Especially offensive to some is when the overhead view shows the dancers below in the form of a swastika. As Mel said in his interview, if you've gone that far out, you might as well go all the way.

The cult status of the film has grown over the years. Life imitated art when "The Producers" was turned into a real Broadway musical. The staggering success of the play led to the film finally being released on DVD. As a great man once wrote, you can't keep a good movie down!" Mel Brooks' First-And Best Patrick A. Hayden | Arlington, VA United States | 12/30/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) ""The Producers", which has gained newfound fame due to the Musical Comedy that Mel Brooks created based on this, his first movie, is also the best thing Brooks has ever done. "Blazing Saddles" was a gag-a-minute take on the Western, and "Young Frankenstein" was Brooks' spoof on horror, but in "The Producers", Brooks' made something that was entirely his own: a madcap, hilarious, perfectly cast satire of life on the seedier side of Broadway.The late, great Zero Mostel stars as Max Bilalystock, a former big-time Broadway producer who has been reduced to seducing old ladies for checks to fund flops.

Into his sad life comes accountant Leo Bloom(Gene Wilder in the first of several Brooks' collaborations). Bloom is a nebbishly high-strung auditor who offhandedly mentions to Max that a producer could make more money from a flop than a hit. This launches one of the most hilarious movies ever made, as Bloom and Bialystock scheme to find the worst sript, worst director, and worst actors to make the most tasteless and awful play ever.The humor here is some of Brooks' finest. He expertley skewers Broadway egos, Nazis's, and greed as he tells the tale of the production of "Springtime for Hitler", written by an ex-Nazi who still holds onto the idea that Hitler was a great man. What keeps it from becoming an offensive movie is that the play is so hopelessly miscast and directed that it is just a big joke, and the fact that the audience knows that the Nazi is being taken advantage of steers the film away from the dark aspects of that ideology and makes fun of everything Hitler was trying to create.

Wilder shines as Bloom, in his first major role, as he moves from loser to producer to desperate criminal, and Mostel shows his fine gift for broad comedy in his portrayal of the morally bankrupt producer who prizes money above all else. The film's funniest scenes involve bizzare breakdowns from Wilder, the hilarious alegiance to the defunct Third Reich by the playright, played with utter conviction by Kenneth Mars, and of course the play itself. The opening musical number is a sight to behold, and manages to spoof every over the top broadway production ever in the sense that everyone involved in the production, save Wilder and Mostel, take it so damn seriously.The Producers has finally gotten the DVD release it deserves, and should delight anyone who loves Mel Brooks, and perhaps win a few converts who only know him from his latter day flops(Men in Tights, I'm looking at you). Brooks had 10 great years of moviemaking in him, and he starts it out with a bang in this film." "Where did I go right?" Allen Smalling | Chicago, IL United States | 01/09/2006 (5 out of 5 stars) " This is it!

The source, THE PRODUCERS, the 1968 release with screenplay and direction by Mel Brooks, juicy parts by Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars and others, and a well-deserved reputation as one of the funniest movie comedies ever. Filmed on a pittance (less than $1 million, cheap even by Sixties standards), THE PRODUCERS almost died unrecognized until it became a cult hit in New York, L.A., Chicago and then, everywhere. SPOILER GRAF: The plot is brilliantly diabolical: a corrupt Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and his nebbishy accountant assistant (Gene Wilder) deliberately oversell a play with the design to create a flop and keep the proceeds. They hire the worst possible playwright, director, and choreographer and deliberately insult the drama critics. But the play is so hilariously awful it becomes awfully hilarious. The essence of 1960s camp: It's good because it's so bad. It's hard to overstate just how good Mel Brooks' first movie is. The low budget forced a lot of outside shooting in New York City, and as a result the movie looks fresh, not cosmetized.

The premise of a play about "Adolf and Eva in a gay romp at Berchtesgaden" was, if anything, more offensive just 23 years after the end of the Second World War than it is today. A big gamble on Brooks' part, but it played. This edition is well worth the extra couple of dollars over the "movie only" version. It includes a second CD, apparently put together about the time of the 2001 Broadway musical, and contains stills, bios, and an engaging documentary about the film's making and reception. The last is especially fun since all the principals involved (except the late Zero Mostel) are alive and active and possessed of strong memories of that "kooky" classic-in-the-making. The 2005 movie with Broadway vets Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick is proving a disappointment to those who remember the original movie or the 2001 Broadway smash. The new movie took the Broadway book and set it in an imagined-and expensive--"indeterminate past" full of late 1950s cars and fashions.

Unfortunately, what works on the stage doesn't always translate on film, and despite all the talent and money involved, the new movie comes across as stagey, self-absorbed and at times a bit labored. And LONG: half again as long as this original, which clocks in right at an hour and a half. The verdict: All versions of THE PRODUCERS are funny, but the 1968 movie is the one to start with. Enjoy it now at a great price. " WHERE IS THE UNEDITED VERSION OF "THE PRODUCERS" ? RELENTLESS | JUST SOUTH OF OZ | 09/06/2006 (3 out of 5 stars) "CAUTION: MAJOR SPOILERS CONTAINED HEREIN...I have been a big fan of the original theatrical cut (circa 1968) for nearly 40 years. My biggest disappointment is that there is no video format that has ever kept that original vision intact. This classic comedy had been hacked up on network TV long before commercial video formats ever existed.

By the time it was released to laserdisc, two terrific scenes were editied down or out (probably for reasons of pacing and flow). My personal feeling is THOSE SCENES WORKED BETTER left as originally conceived. The "INTERMISSION" sequence actually sets up the original ending for the film. Max buys the drunk at the bar his drink, makes a toast "TO TOAST", then ambles over to the juke-box. Max then invites Leo and the Drunk to sing-along to "By The Light of the Silvery Moon". The truncated (video) version shows them already in the middle of the tune when the "Springtime" theater patrons rush in. Secondly, in the original version Franz stomps out "THE QUICK FUSE!" before the theater blows up. Perhaps Mel thought the scene played out funnier having the playhouse blow-up after their terrified screams. To me it doesn't. It is way too obvious and cliche. The original vision has Franz wiring the dynamite to the plunger box whereon the drunk from the bar completes the circuit, mistaking it for a shoe shine box. "OKAY BOYS", he declares. "SHINE 'EM UP"...KABOOM!!!

This was unexpected and very very funny. I was hoping this new two disc release would restore the original vision of the film. Sadly it does not. I understand there is a deleted scene in this package. But the deleted scene was not deleted from the movie...it has been deleted from the video presentation. I agree with those individuals who balk at FORCED commercials, products or trailers on DVD. This is reprehensible. It ranks right up there with FORCED commercials in multiplex theaters. Last note: "THE PRODUCERS" is truly one of the funniest comedies ever made. If you have not seen it, rent or buy whichever release you can get. I hope the original theatrical presentation will be made available at some point in time for purists who hysterically (and quite literally) fell out of their chairs back in 1968." One of my FAVORITE movies ever!!! :) Robert J. Schneider | Tacoma, WA USA | 04/30/2001 (5 out of 5 stars) ""The Producers" and "The Wizard of Oz" are the two films that I have seen the most amount of times in my life---> 15 times each!!

:) I totally agree with Leonard Maltin that it is "one of those rare films that gets funnier with each viewing." It really does, and I always find something new in it that makes me laugh. Not only is "The Producers" Mel Brooks's first film, and one of his best, but it is quite simply STILL one of the greatest comedies ever made. Why? It's not just the plot, which itself is funny-- no, it is the performances of the late great Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock (what a name!), Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom (whose name was derived from James Joyce's "Ulysses" whose stage version starred Zero Mostel), Kenneth Mars as "Springtime For Hitler" author Franz Liebkin, Christopher Hewitt (Mr. Belvedere himself!) as flamboyantly gay, and cross-dressing, Roger DeBris (another great name!), the late great Dick Shawn as "L.S.D.", and so on...and the interaction between all of them is just hilarious! Even all of the smaller roles get filled with with memorable characters.

(Like the "CONCI-OIGE!") For the most part, they just don't make comedies like this anymore.Now, they've just re-made "The Producers" for Broadway (as Franz Liebkin would say, "Broadvay...oh, joy of joys! Oh, dream of dreams!! I MUST TELL THE BIRDS!!!") I sure can't wait to see this version, even if it takes me a couple of years to do it. I've heard that it's been sold out for the next 2 years. It's just a testament to this film's timelessness...and the fact that it's REALLY funny!! If anyone reading this STILL hasn't seen it, well then what are you waiting for? Buy it, see it with your friends or family, and have a good time laughing. :)" Film History Milestones - 1968 Event and Significance 1968 A new voluntary ratings system was developed and went into effect in late November by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) - it was announced by its President Jack Valenti.

The new system classified films according to their suitability for viewing by young people, in four categories: "G" for general audiences; "M" for mature audiences; "R," no one under 16 admitted without an adult guardian (later raised to under 17 years of age); and "X," no one under 17 admitted. The four criteria used in the ratings included theme, language, violence, and nudity and/or sexual content. Many parents thought films rated M contained more adult content than those that were rated R. This confusion led to its replacement in 1969 by the rating of GP (or General Public, or General Audiences, Parental Guidance Suggested). In 1970, the GP (or earlier M) rating was changed to PG: Parental Guidance Suggested, and the age limit was increased to 17.

[The PG ratings category would again be revised in 1984.] 1968 Brian De Palma's satirical draft-dodger comedy Greetings (1968), (Robert De Niro's debut film), was the first film in the US to receive the new rating of X by the MPAA - for nudity and profanity (in its original release), although it was later reduced to an R rating. The film was De Palma's second feature-length directorial effort, following his The Wedding Party (1966). 1968 The first contemporary music (rock 'n roll concert) industry film, Monterey Pop (1968), was filmed at the historic Monterey International Pop Festival in California in 1967, featuring such performers as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Mamas and the Papas, Janis Joplin and more. It was the precursor to Michael Wadleigh's concert documentary of the late 60s rock fest, Woodstock (1970).

1968 Stanley Kubrick's stunning epic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) reinvented the science fiction genre - after its premiere in April 1968. It earned four Academy Award nominations and won for Special Visual Effects. The spectacular film had the largest movie budget for special effects (to date) - more than 60%. It introduced the character of HAL, a computer that could see, speak, hear, and think like its human colleagues aboard the spaceship, and fantastic special effects of outer-space by Douglas Trumbull. 1968 The flesh-eating zombie sub-genre of films was given a boost with George A. Romero's cheap, stark black and white horror flick, Night of the Living Dead (1968) . This debut film was an influential, milestone 'splatter' film. The ultra-low budget film was shot in grainy 35 mm black-and-white with natural lighting and hand-held cameras. It featured an unknown cast - and reinvented the genre with its crude "drawbacks" which actually improved the film since they lent a documentary feel and reality that made the film all the more horrific.

While initially considered drive-in schlock, the film gained in popularity and critical respect, and raised Romero to great heights as a horror filmmaker. Romero's Dead trilogy (now totaling five) told about flesh-eating zombies who walked slowly and stiffly (due to the effects of rigor mortis), in a 'cult of the dead'. 1968 The classic science fiction film, Planet of the Apes (1968) was one of the pioneering, modern multimedia marketing blockbusters, spawning not only four sequels (and a remake in 2001, and further sequels) and two television series spinoffs, but merchandising, such as action figures. It provided both solid entertainment value, and an effective, politically-charged message of social commentary. 1968 The German film Maedchen in Uniform (1958) (first filmed in 1931) was the only lesbian film seen publicly in the US --- until the release of Robert Aldrich's X-rated The Killing of Sister George (1968).

1968 Peter Bogdanovich was the first critic and film scholar to become a Hollywood writer-director, with his directorial debut for Targets (1968), made for American International Pictures. He deliberately revered past American directors in his own work which extended into the 70s. 1968 Writer Mel Brooks made his directorial feature-film debut with the satirical dark comedy The Producers (1968), starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder - the first of many broad film farces and comedy-parodies (e.g., Blazing Saddles (1974) , Young Frankenstein (1974) , etc.). 1968 The Oscar ceremony in April of 1968 was delayed by two days (and held on April 10th) due to Martin Luther King's assassination (on April 4th). 1968 Writer/director John Cassavetes' Faces (1968) was the first independently-made and distributed American film to reach mainstream audiences.

Cassavetes himself has been considered to be "the father of independent cinema in America." The stark and grainy look of this amateurish-looking, non-studio, ragged film about infidelity (over two hours long, and made with a hand-held camera in 16mm) was told as an improvisational character study. It was a highly-influential, low-budget independent cinema verite film that had a highly individualistic style (with unscripted and often inaudible dialogue). 1968 Katharine Hepburn became the first person to win three Academy Awards in either the Best Actor or Best Actress categories, with her win for her monumental role as the witty, strong-willed, aging Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1968). Hepburn's total of eleven acting nominations also set a new record. 1968 Broadway actress/singer Barbra Streisand made her big-screen debut in director William Wyler's biopic Funny Girl (1968), playing the role of musical vaudevillian, Ziegfeld Follies, Broadway star and comedienne Fanny Brice - reprising her previous Broadway role.

The film was famous for the opening line: "Hello gorgeous." For her performance, Streisand shared Best Actress Oscar honors with Katharine Hepburn (winning for The Lion in Winter (1968)). This was the second time in Academy history two performers had tied for an Academy Award. It was also Wyler's first musical film. 1968 US actor Albert Dekker, known for his appearances (in a career lasting over 30 years) in the horror film Dr. Cyclops (1940), the film noirs The Killers (1946) and Kiss Me Deadly (1955) , and in his final film - Sam Peckinpah's western The Wild Bunch (1969) , died at the age of 62. He was found naked in his own Hollywood bathroom - hanged by accidental autoerotic asphyxiation. He was bound, blindfolded, gagged and handcuffed, with sexual obscenities scrawled on his body in red lipstick. The Producers (1967) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property.

Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Producers Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom make money by producing a sure-fire flop. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence. a list of 45 titles created 24 Oct 2013 a list of 30 titles created 24 Apr 2015 a list of 35 images created 24 Jun 2015 a list of 31 titles created 08 Nov 2015 a list of 28 titles created 1 week ago Search for " The Producers " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar.

Another 2 wins & 5 nominations. See more awards » Videos In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary. Director: Mel Brooks An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body. Director: Mel Brooks After putting together another Broadway flop, down-on-his-luck producer Max Bialystock teams up with timid accountant Leo Bloom in a get-rich-quick scheme to put on the world's worst show. Director: Susan Stroman Mel Brooks' parody of Alfred Hitchcock films. Director: Mel Brooks A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years. Director: Mel Brooks Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes. Director: Mel Brooks Planet Spaceballs' President Skroob sends Lord Dark Helmet to steal planet Druidia's abundant supply of air to replenish their own, and only Lone Starr can stop them.

Director: Mel Brooks On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train. Director: Arthur Hiller Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends will be sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit, however, no prison cell can keep them locked in. Director: Sidney Poitier In 1920s Soviet Russia, a fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs, lost during the revolution. Director: Mel Brooks The younger brother of the consulting detective tries to steal Sherlock's glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric Scotland Yard detective and a lovely but suspicious actress. Director: Gene Wilder A spoof of Robin Hood in general and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) in particular. Director: Mel Brooks Edit Storyline Down-on-his-luck theatrical producer Max Bialystock is forced to romance rich old ladies to finance his efforts. When timid accountant Leo Bloom reviews Max's accounting books, the two hit upon a way to make a fortune by producing a sure-fire flop. The play which is to be their gold mine?

"Springtime for Hitler." Written by Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu> Hollywood Never Faced a Zanier Zero Hour! See more » Genres: 10 November 1968 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Mel Brooks' The Producers See more » Filming Locations: $6,091 (USA) (7 June 2002) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia Composer John Morris was given the daunting task of creating the showcase musical number "Springtime for Hitler." Mel Brooks directed him to create the biggest, flashiest, tackiest, most terrible number he could think of. "Every time we hit a level," said Morris, "we'd have to go broader, bigger, and that was the fun of it." See more » Goofs When Max and Leo are trying to talk Roger De Bris into directing "Spring Time for Hitler," Roger's personal assistant, Carmen Ghia places a wig on Roger's head to complete his costume for the choreographer's ball. As the scene cuts back and forth from wide shots to close ups of Roger while he is speaking, the bangs of his wig alternate between being off and on his forehead.

See more » Quotes Max Bialystock : You're an accountant! You're in a noble profession! The word "count" is part of your title! "The Fuhrer is causing a furor!" 31 March 2009 | by moonspinner55 (las vegas, nv) – See all my reviews Broadway theatre producer, down-on-his-luck with a string of losers behind him, takes the joshing advice from his accountant to stage a sure-fire musical flop and sell off the interest in it, thereby leaving him a millionaire when the show closes after one night. Low-voltage hysteria from Oscar-winning screenwriter Mel Brooks, who also makes his debut as director. The timing is off, the scenes ramble without punch, the sets and art direction are appalling, and the opening scenes with Zero Mostel wooing different elderly women for show-money are disastrous. Oscar-nominated Gene Wilder has a very funny early scene freaking out in Mostel's office, and the auditions for their lopsided extravaganza are amusing. However, aside from the musical number "Springtime For Hitler", Brooks never quite gets the lead out.

His pacing drags, and he's surely not helped by the flagging editing and overacting from just about everyone (Dick Shawn and Kenneth Mars are the worst culprits). Even though this is early-era Brooks, one is automatically inclined to cut him a wide berth for both his customary belly laughs and groaners--unfortunately, much of "The Producers" is lined with groaners, particularly in the third act after the show has opened. Later transformed into a Broadway musical and a 2005 film-adaptation of that show. ** from **** 8 of 11 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Question: As what were Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder known in the title of a 1968 film?
Answer: THE PRODUCERS